Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)

An interesting entry into the series, but really, I feel there was still life in the 19th Century time frame. Bringing Dracula to the 70s was, I think a mistake. Christopher Lee seems to be mostly forgotten and never gets the opportunity to get out and do what he does best. He remains in an old disused church for the whole film and only has a few decent scenes. We have Peter Cushing here, of course, playing an excellent part as Van Helsing, which somewhat saves the film. Decent portrayals by Lee, Cushing, Beacham, Munroe and Neame are worth watching. The 2 best things about this movie are , 1, the opening. Hyde Park, and Dracula and Van Helsing and racing through on a horse drawn carriage battling it out. The carriage crashes and they are both thrown. Van Helsing recieving fatal wounds and Dracula impaled on a broken wheel. Pretty good stuff, although not enough lighting was used so the carriage top battle and following events are rather hard to see. 2, the finale. As Van Helsing plans to destroy Dracula he drives a silver bladed knife through the Count's heart, only to be removed by his Granddaughter Jessica. Van Helsing then lures Dracula out to his death. The first few moments between Lee and Cushing in this final battle are classic, and for the first time in the series history, the 2 main characters speak to each other. The film is worth a look, if you`re a fan of modern horror then Lee and Cushing will seem a little lost, but if you`re a fan of the old Hammer Dracula films, take a look, with the beginning and the end, you just might like it.

Fmovies: England's Hammer Studios did 9 Dracula or vampire films from 1958-1974:

1. Horror of Dracula (1958); 2. Brides of Dracula (1960); 3. Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1966); 4. Dracula has Risen from the Grave (1968); 5. Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970); 6. Scars of Dracula (1970); 7. Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972); 8. The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973); and 9. The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974).

Christopher Lee plays the Count in all but "The Brides of Dracula" and "The Legend 7 Golden Vampires." Peter Cushing also stars in four entries as Van Helsing.

By the time of the seventh film the creative well was apparently running dry and Hammer decided to spice up the series by bringing the Count to present-day London (1972, of course), which was Hammer's response to other successful vampire films at the time taking place in the modern day, such as "The Night Stalker," "Blacula" and "Count Yorga." The story revolves around a group of hip counter-culture youths performing a black mass in an abandoned church for kicks (although the ringleader takes it serious) and they revive the blood-sucking prince of darkness. Havok ensues.

Peter Cushing appears as Van Helsing's descendant. Christopher Neame plays the nutjob who performs the black mass with utter relish. Also on hand are the stunning beauties Stephanie Beacham and Caroline Munro. Stephanie plays Van Helsing's daughter and Caroline has a small but significant role. There are a couple of other early-70s hippie babes as well.

The first half of the film borrows heavily from the previous "Taste the Blood of Dracula" in that the Count is resurrected in roughly the same manner, although "Taste" is more effective. Which isn't to say that "Dracula A.D. 1972" isn't a decent entry in the series, albeit bizarre. The main problem with the film is that the story doesn't seem to know what to do once Dracula is resurrected. For instance, Cushing's final battle with the Count is fairly lame for various reasons (I don't want to give anything away), not to mention Lee only appears for about 10 minute in the entire film, which is usual for the series, of course.

Another problem is the score. It screams "early 70s" in a bad way, but doesn't mesh with what is essentially a serious horror flick. Of course some would cite that as part of its charm. I said "serious horror flick, by the way, because this is not a goofy or campy flick despite the colorful hippie elements and lousy score.

What works best is that it's a great period piece. You'll get a groovy glimpse of England's counter-culture, including the hippie girls and a live performance by the band Stoneground (who didn't go anywhere beyond this movie, likely because their sound & style was already passe by 1972). So, the first half is fun and compelling, whereas the second half just sort of goes through the motions and peters out.

BOTTOM LINE: "Dracula A.D. 1972" is hard to rate because, despite the mediocre-ness of the story's second half, the film is a fun experience with numerous highlights. Hence, as a Dracula story I give it a C+, but for entertainment value I give it a solid B or B+.

The film runs 96 minutes and was shot in England.

GRADE: B-

I love this film. It is a wonderful Hammer vampire story put in the seventies, with swinging girls and guys, the hippie culture(of sorts), and ancient old nemesises Dracula and Van Helsing. The opening is one of the best in the Hammer tradition as we see Dracula and Van Helsing battling in the 1800's on a carraige. Now, do not get me wrong. The film is dated very much, and it is somewhat implausible. But Peter Cushing is in top form and his performance as the descendant of Van Helsing is worth seeing the film alone. Add some very pretty(and busty) Hammer beauties like Caroline Munro and Stephanie Beacham...and Christopher Lee as the antogonist and it's a can't-miss.

Dracula A.D. 1972 fmovies. Modern horror movies love to place classic horror icons and characters in modern times and people love to hate modern horror movies for that! However, it really isn't something that's new, as this 1972 movie clearly demonstrates. It take the classic Hammer Dracula character and puts him into a 'modern' 1972 setting, no doubt also in an attempt to modernize and update the Dracula series, hoping this would boost the franchise again. It didn't really worked out though, since its one of the final Dracula movies from the Hammer studios but in all truth and honesty; I still quite liked it!

Lets face it, all of the older Dracula movies set in more classic settings were starting to get extremely repetitive. All of the movies were being more or less the same, with very little variety to them. And while in essence this movie is also really being the same as any other classic Dracula movie story-wise, it still manages to feel like a breath of fresh air, due to its difference in style and settings.

It definitely feels like a more modern movie, though of course in today's light, it still is a very outdated movie. It's really a product of its time, with some funky '70's clothing, music and type of characters.

You could complain about it that this movie doesn't have enough vampire action in it, since this is definitely true but in all honesty, the same can be said for a lot of Dracula movies, also those from the Hammer studios. Blame Christopher Lee for that, since he was the one who was done with the character pretty early on already but agreed to still appear in Dracula movies as the count, probably just because it was quick, good money for him. But he always made sure his role was being as limited as possible and also his dialog always needed to be cut down to a minimum. But how can you be mad at Christopher Lee for that? after all, he's still an awesome and very charismatic Dracula, in every movie in which he plays the character.

Also good news about this movie is that Peter Cushing returns in it, as professor Van Helsing. Or well, a decedent of him of course. It had been 12 years and 5 Dracula movies ago he starred opposite Christopher Lee. And he was truly missed in the 4 Dracula movies which that he didn't appeared in. Not just because he was a great actor but also really since he has just as much screen-presence and charisma as Lee and was capable of counterbalancing him. All of the Dracula movies without him basically lack a good and strong enough lead, that besides was being a memorable and likable enough character.

You could argue about it if it truly adds something that this movie got set in 1972, since Dracula himself doesn't even ever get outside I believe but it does bring some originality and more creativity to the series, while still maintaining a good and typical Hammer studios horror style to it.

7/10

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I have recently managed to finally secure this film on DVD after a long wait and am delighted to have been able to do so. A much maligned later addition to the Hammer Dracula saga, this was a magnificent attempt by Hammer to propel new life into the oft told story of the Count and his many appearances over passing years. It was logic that he would eventually end up in modern time and to this end on the budget available to Hammer at the time, this was without doubt a superb entry into the series. Despite being set in the early 1970's, Hammer made us well aware of the Gothic element still, by utilising an abandoned Churchyard for may scenes and also include an interesting opener at the beginning of the film, set in Victorian times to allow the old and new to join comfortably. Both Lee and Cushing gave sterling performances as Dracula and Van Helsing respectively and the soundtrack although updated is great to, very reminiscent of the period with the correct touch of the creepies also. The supporting cast is also very good and each has enough time to develop filling out the plot, particularly that of Christopher Neame, who plays Draculs disciple in a role that was sadly unable to develop further as Neame showed distinct and early signs of contesting the masters crown although one thinks perhaps that is why ultimately he was cut short! One of the best and for all of the critics out there, ask yourself when condemning films such as this on the basis that we saw Hammer go downhill etc form here out, what indeed we are left with today instead. On that basis this deserves post award ceremonies by the dozen. Long live the studio from Bray!

Been reading the other comments of this film For some reason over the years various film critics and horror film book authors have been unjustly mean to this film. I mean you have Peter and Christopher together which is always a good start. A couple of smashing birds ( note the 70's lingo ) in Stephanie Beacham and Marsha Hunt and an absolute corker in the very sexy Caroline Munro ( who of course also advertised Lamb's Navy Rum , did a Bond Movie and perhaps the pinnacle of her career appeared as one of the hostesses with Ted Rogers and Dusty Bin on 3 2 1 ) I love the music too all very 70's. Christopher Neame's death scene was superb as was the final fight between Pete and Chris ( with that crazy 70's music once again ) is very well staged. Although Mr. Cushing looks as he's going to collapse going up and down those spiral steps.

The hilarious 70's costumes on the blokes look like they might have once belonged to Richard O'Sullivan in Man About the House. One chap spends the whole film dressed as some kind of 'kinky' monk.

The crazy 70's lingo is very funny and the group at the beginning at the party 'Stoneground ' well I'm just lost for words.

All in all I think this film is an absolute corker. If you haven't seen ignore the negative comments sit down and enjoy it.

I think it's a corker.